The present invention relates to a magnetic resonance apparatus performing a pulse sequence including an RF pulse for inducing transfer of magnetization.
Known techniques for rendering blood in the head and neck include a method comprising defining a slab in the head and neck, and acquiring data from the slab using 3D time-of-flight MR angiography (TOF-MRA). In the 3D TOF-MRA method, an inflow effect by blood flowing from a region outside of the slab into the slab enables rendering of the blood flowing within the slab.
A slab, however, contains not only blood that is an object to be rendered, but also various kinds of background tissue that are not an object to be rendered. Therefore, it is necessary to fully suppress signals from the background tissue. For example, in rendering blood in the head, the cerebral parenchyma (white matter and gray matter) is tissue unnecessary for rendering blood, and thus, signals from the cerebral parenchyma should be suppressed as much as possible. Known methods for sufficiently lessening signals from the cerebral parenchyma include a method using an MT (Magnetization Transfer) pulse for suppressing signals from the cerebral parenchyma (white matter and gray matter) taking advantage of a magnetization transfer effect.